Times Magazine Editor Hugo Lindgren tells Sullivan he didn't find the original question sexist, but told Goldman his Twitter behavior was "needlessly rude and insulting."

Readers are entitled to whatever opinions they have of his work, and he needs to be comfortable with that and engage thoughtfully when appropriate, or not at all.

Weiner tells Sullivan she'd like to see Goldman do his job better; Sullivan writes: "It sounds as though he’s going to get that chance."

Given his misbehavior on Twitter and his status as a highly replaceable freelancer, I think his editors are extraordinarily generous to give it to him.

It's significant that the Times' public editor is addressing how one of the organization's writers behaved on Twitter, not in the paper's pages. A "clear social media policy at The Times may be in order," Sullivan writes. The Times currently does not have an explicit policy and some there like it that way. This past July, Phil Corbett, The Times' associate managing editor for standards, told my coworker Jeff Sonderman, "in general our message is that people should be thoughtful."

On Twitter -- which will disappoint me if it does not produce many "highly replaceable" jokes Thursday -- Sullivan's strong words for Goldman were mostly applauded, though CUNY professor Jeff Jarvis pushed back against her disapproval of profanity, and Gawker reporter John Cook said Goldman's apology reset the scoreboard.

Among the women who responded (those I found, anyway) Sullivan got raves. That's a strong validation of The Times' decision to finally put a woman in the job -- some of Sullivan's critiques of the paper are freighted with experiences few men will ever have, and that's connecting with readers.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Andrew Beaujon reported on the media for Poynter from 2012 to 2015. He was previously arts editor at TBD.com and managing editor of Washington City Paper. He's the author of the 2006 book "Body Piercing Saved My Life," about Christian rock and evangelical Christian culture.